The Telegraph UK article on 2009 whale kill numbers on 13 April 2009:
We had set a target of 850 minke whales but were only able to catch 679, and only one out of a quota of 50 fin whales," said Hideaki Okada, a ministry spokesman.
"One of our vessels was damaged in a dangerous attack, so we lost about two weeks of the season, so we could not reach our target," he said. "We needed to reach the 850 quota to carry out effective scientific research, so we have lost that opportunity."
This is what was said during a Radio Australia interview on 15 April last year:
SHANE MCLEOD: Japan had planned to kill around 1,000 whales in the Southern Ocean this season, 850, give or take 10 per cent were to be minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpbacks. The humpbacks were taken out of the formula in December, after Australia led protests lodged directly with Japan's Government. And now with the main whaling the ship, the Nisshin Maru due back in port this morning, Japan has confirmed that it's had trouble meeting the quota it set itself - with 551 minke whales making up roughly 60 per cent of the quota. Shigeki Takaya is a spokesman for Japan's Fisheries Agency.
We had set a target of 850 minke whales but were only able to catch 679, and only one out of a quota of 50 fin whales," said Hideaki Okada, a ministry spokesman.
"One of our vessels was damaged in a dangerous attack, so we lost about two weeks of the season, so we could not reach our target," he said. "We needed to reach the 850 quota to carry out effective scientific research, so we have lost that opportunity."
This is what was said during a Radio Australia interview on 15 April last year:
SHANE MCLEOD: Japan had planned to kill around 1,000 whales in the Southern Ocean this season, 850, give or take 10 per cent were to be minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpbacks. The humpbacks were taken out of the formula in December, after Australia led protests lodged directly with Japan's Government. And now with the main whaling the ship, the Nisshin Maru due back in port this morning, Japan has confirmed that it's had trouble meeting the quota it set itself - with 551 minke whales making up roughly 60 per cent of the quota. Shigeki Takaya is a spokesman for Japan's Fisheries Agency.
SHIGEKI TAKAYA: 551 is not reached to the 850 but is not so small numbers. We will get the good result from this number.
SHANE MCLEOD: Japan's whale researchers say part of the reason for not catching so many whales is that they didn't see quite so many of them. But they say it's premature to draw conclusions from that about overall whale numbers.
So a catch of 551 Minke whales in 2008 is still a good result, but a catch of 679 Minke whales in 2009 is not?
It would appear that Japan has been caught out spinning a whale of a tale.
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